The Ball State University men's basketball team saw a two-point halftime lead turn into a 14-point loss to visiting Northern Illinois University, 62-48, Saturday afternoon in both team's Mid-American Conference openers at Worthen Arena.
The Cardinals (6-7, 0-1 MAC) led 26-24 going into the half, but shot 6-for-31 (19.4 percent) from the field in the second half and the Huskies (5-8, 1-0 MAC) took advantage, converting 10-of-24 (.417) from the field, including 16-of-19 (.842) from the free-throw line.
The offensive dip comes just one game after Ball State scored just 35 points -- its lowest output since 1946 -- in its 59-35 loss at the University of Dayton on Tuesday.
"Very disappointing effort for us this afternoon," Ball State coach Billy Taylor said. "First MAC game of the year, I thought we would come out – especially after our loss against Dayton – I thought we would come out with tremendous energy and effort, and we didn't have that."
Junior forward Malik Perry led Ball State with 14 points and a team-high-tying seven rebounds. Senior guard Brawley Chisholm and sophomore guard Randy Davis added six points each, and sophomore guard Pierre Sneed had seven rebounds for the Cardinals.
For the Huskies, junior guard Xavier Silas had a game-best 25 points and shot 15-of-15 from the free throw line. Sophomore forward/center Michael Fakuade had 10 points.
The Cardinals return to action on Wednesday as they travel to Central Michigan University.
For complete coverage of today's game, check back with bsudailynews.com and for a complete Winter Break recap, read Monday's print edition of The Ball State Daily News.
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